I ruined my relationship over politics. Don’t make the same mistake.

In my last article for Red Alert Politics, I had cited the Milo effect on college conservatives, noting some people had turned rather obnoxious with their politics.

Well, I have a confession. Sometimes we think we debate like Charlie Rose — but really brawl like two baby daddies on Maury. Having dated a hardcore liberal a few times lately, I recently discovered that I too was guilty of this sin, but only after she had broken up with me in the middle of the day.

I was so incensed I texted her the version of ‘F YOU’ to a liberal: “#MAGA”.

I had held in my politics, as did she since our first date when she decreed, “Let’s not get political,” even after she subtly mourned that we have a President Trump. However, anyone could’ve hit on the head what her politics were when she’d start talking about a black person at work, but before she started the story, it came out: “Boy, this sounds so racist but…”

Back to the present.

Later during my devastated state, I had sent the MAGA text and then asked her what had changed from our date the night before, when she was optimistic about taking me to try Mexican food for the first time, to the next day’s breakup. She responded with this salvo:

Photo from Neil Dwyer

Talk about feeling mentally ill. Phrases like “Gut feeling” and “Uncomfortable.” It makes you wonder whether you lived a past life as Jack the Ripper. I sent the screenshot to a friend that afternoon who said, “You’ve been out with like, 10 girls, you have to be doing something wrong.” I immediately got defensive. How outrageous! I gave this girl her space, didn’t text constantly, and held in my politics… until I realized something. This was the first time in a while I HAD bitten my tongue on that issue.

I’ll be open with everyone reading. It’s been a while since I’ve had a relationship longer than a few dates. After some serious introspection though, I remembered all the little moments when I’d either debunk something as racist, or tell a joke on the edge, or possibly my relay feelings on George Soros (yes, this happened.) I underestimated their intelligence. Just as I could easily figure out liberal politics, so too could they easily figure out my right-of-center line of thinking.

Unfortunately, even with the GOP controlling all three branches of government, we live in an era, and I live in a state, where to some people, those red ball caps might as well have swastikas on them, and MAGA could easily be the Nazi salute. No matter how many alt-right trolls taunt on the delicious, salty tears dripping from snowflakes, these people aren’t going away.

In that #MAGA text, I may have been guilty of portraying the worst stereotypes of Trump supporters: that no matter how open we try to be, we’ll ultimately revert to dumb antics on electronic devices to get attention. The same can be said for the left as well.

Here’s the bottom line: I can’t hide my politics. This is who I am. I’m aiming for a career in political media. My social media is flooded with opinions or jokes aimed at a certain audience. If I were to possibly pretend I was neutral for the sake of dating, I’d have to delete social media, quite honestly. However, and this is a tip for a lot of guys out there in the same spot, maybe we conservatives can do good by actually being conservative in our political revelations. Just chill out; you don’t need to throw in that one-liner about SJWs to get a laugh and also tip the elephant hand. If it’s a match, those differences iron themselves out in due time.